Jan Hagenkötter (INFRACom/Saigon Supersound)

Diffusion

Podcast

Jan Hagenkötter is a music-lover and DJ.
He’s the mind behind the internationally renowned music publishing company and record label INFRACom!

INFRACom!
Jan Hagenkötter and Namé Leonhard Vaughn† launched INFRACom! in 1992. For more then two decades, INFRACom! has been an innovative and internationally independent music company. Active as both a record label and music publisher and with over 160 catalogue numbers published to date in a wide range of electronica, jazz and nu-jazz, drum and bass and house music, INFRACom! offers a very wide repertoire in all modern music genres beyond the mainstream. INFRACom! has an international base of artists. The list of artists who released music or who cooperated on INFRACom! ranges from regional artists to internationally renowned musicians.

National and international stars such as Till Brönner, Joy Denalane, Lisa Bassange, to Roger Cicero and the Düsseldorf Philharmonic Orchestra up to the Norwegian jazz musicians Nils Petter Molvaer and Bugge Wesseltoft and the US house diva Ultra Naté, the Berlin DJs from Jazzanova, Peter Kruder from Vienna, Jazztronik from Japan, Nicola Conte (Italy) and even Blaze from USA have participated in productions and releases.

Today, INFRACom! is one of the long lasting independent labels in the electronic and new jazz sector in Germany. The artists chosen are not limited by a certain musical style - the label is always open for interesting new projects. Artists who have already released albums on INFRAcom! include Dublex Inc., Shantel, Phoneheads, Aromabar, Metropolitan Jazz Affair, [re:jazz], Jhelisa, Cleveland Watkiss , Mop Mop, Nekta, Motorciytsoul and many more.

Besides their label work, INFRACom! has dedicated its efforts over the last decade to establishing local and national structures for club and music culture in Frankfurt am Main.

Music from INFRACom! is used around the world for international US cinema productions and television series, as well as in advertising and special marketing products for companies such as Porsche, Mercedes, Absolut and Unilever.

“jazznotjazz” and other activities
Jan Hagenkötter was involved in the launch of the independent radio station “Radio X” in Frankfurt and has played a major role in defining Frankfurt’s musical diversity through countless events over the past 20 years.

From 1997 to 2000 he published the music magazine “Tribes”, which appeared across Germany.

In cooperation with the author Jürgen Schwab, Jan Hagenkötter published a thematic compilation entitled “Der Frankfurt Sound – Eine Stadt und ihre Jazzgeschichte(n)” [The Frankfurt Sound – A City and its History in Jazz], which was named the Hessen Book of the Year 2005.

In 2006, together with director Markus Bader, Jan Hagenkötter produced and released the DVD artist documentary “One week with Jhelisa – Re-discovering America”, filmed in New Orleans. This was followed in 2007/2008 by the tour documentary “[re:jazz] live in Japan”, which was also shown in selected arthouse cinemas.

In 2007, Jan Hagenkötter was the promoter who launched the two-day “jazznotjazz” festival in Frankfurt, which features international live bands, DJs and films shown at the Mousonturm arts centre. Since 2000, he has regularly hosted concerts and parties outside the festival at a wide variety of locations in Frankfurt under the “jazznotjazz” label, featuring artists such as Marcos Valle, José James, Jimi Tenor, Nicola Conte, Tony Allen, Alice Russel, Mulatu Astatke, Quantic, Mj Cole, US3 and others.

In 2009, he conceived and designed the web-based digital music promotion system “Hear the Music”, which he markets and develops alongside his other activities.

2012 Jan Hagenkötter relocated to Saigon in Vietnam with his family. The headquater of INFRACom! and jazznotjazz lived in this asian melting pot for one year. In co-operation with the Vietnam based dOSe crew he organized parties and shows and invited guest and friends like DJ Spinna, Jazzanova and many other artists, During this year he was around to spin tunes in Saigon and other parts of South East Asia. 2013 he returned to Frankfurt but still swings back and forth between Saigon and Frankfurt ever since.

During this year in Vietnam the idea for the Saigon Supersound project was born.
In the following years he began to research and collect more seriously. He bought vinyl singles from around the world, often several copies of the same release, just to restore or rather “rebuild” one good recording from several sources. With the help of friends based in Saigon, he was able to navigate an almost impenetrable jungle of music websites. Thanks to invaluable support and translation assistance from vietnamese friends, he came into contact with several collectors who either gave him digitalized recordings or let him record directly from their old reel to reel tapes. The best recordings from this treasure hunt were then retouched, refined and remastered in the studio for the for Saigon Supersound release in 2017.

DJ
Jan Hagenkötter – a style nomad and eclectic – elegantly combines electronic and acoustic music. He does not promote “the perfect mix”, but rather an enthralling environment created by interesting music. “It’s the feeling that matters, not the perfect beat. But it should always have soul”.

His main influences can be found in disco, jazz, latin and afro, and of course, soul – a percussion-driven, electronic up-tempo sound building into house and interacting with some classic melodies and favourites from the past. He would say, “I play jazznotjazz”.

Jan Hagenkötter started his career as a DJ in 1992 in the legendary Frankfurt club “Lissana” together with Shantel. After founding INFRACom!, he played in clubs and at festivals all over the world with his partner Namé Leonhard Vaughn (until his death in 2004). Jan Hagenkötter has been touring as a solo DJ since 2004.